Chapter 15: A Rescue Mission

"Get up, let's go," Colton ordered while grabbing JJ by the forearm and trying to pull her to her feet. She must have fallen asleep after his last outburst, and she couldn't be sure how much time had passed.

A small gasp of pain broke through her chapped lips at the contact on her arm. She struggled to stay on her feet as he began pulling her from the room that had kept her captive for too many days. Since Colton's first attack that had effectively destroyed her physical health, she had not stood or walked- until now.

The new motion made her weak, dizzy, and more than anything- lightheaded. For a moment, the world began spinning but time managed to stop at the same time. Keeping her eyes open became a monumental task, but they made it through the hidden door, and Colton dropped her to the ground. He began running around the cabin and grabbing things. JJ tried to focus on his movements; she needed to keep an eye on him so he didn't surprise her while she also searched for the front door. But she couldn't imagine a realistic way to get herself out of the cabin in her condition.

Colton started mumbling things under his breath, something that sounded like curses that corroborated his appearance, exuding concern and anxiety. JJ didn't know what would have set him off during her spout of unconsciousness. But this was the first time he had pulled her out of the room, showing JJ the level of his desperation.

He came over with a small bag and a t-shirt she didn't recognize. He dropped it on her bare chest and told her to put it on. With her little remaining energy, she pulled the oversized shirt over her mutilated body and held back a sharp gag reflex at the smell of his all too familiar scent.

He smirked at her discomfort and, for a minute, bathed in the power of his complete control over a woman that had once been so strong. He pulled her back to her feet and started dragging her through the kitchen and out the same back door she had broken in through some days ago. The fresh air hit her like the cold water Colton regularly threw in her face. It took her breath away, and for some reason, she had expected to see the light or sun but instead found complete darkness. Her time in that dingy, dark room had utterly screwed up her sense of time.

"Wha-aats happening?" She stuttered.

He didn't answer, just kept dragging her through the dark woods. Dragging her in a way that her toes curled under her feet and drew lines against the dirt. He held her up under one arm and held his bag under the other. His demeanor had changed to something she hadn't seen from him yet. It clicked for her with a small glimpse of hope that maybe rescue was close by. Promptly her mind shut it back down. For all she knew, her team could believe she was in Pennsylvania. And she understood that hope bred eternal misery. The last thread of her mental stability couldn't handle that glimpse of hope. It would crush her, finally crush her.

But her mind kept going back to that thought. If law enforcement was close, he was willing to risk his safety and escape to bring her with him. She might be able to use that to her advantage, knowing that he needed to complete his ritual with her. It wasn't much, but it was something. In the same breath, JJ had the idea that maybe he was just pulling her into the woods to kill her. Maybe he'd had enough of her and wanted to dispose of her body and clean up this mess he created. Maybe her broken body was enough surrender for him just to kill her. Because she had spent these days fighting for strength, not giving up, not showing fear because that was her ticket to staying alive, if he had given up that notion and his entire motive, things really didn't look good for JJ.

While her weight mainly had been dead under his arm, she gave up completely. If he wanted her, then he would need to do the work; she wasn't going to roll over and let him pull her to her death. Her body collapsed to the ground, and a stick snapped under the impact while jabbing into JJ's side. Despite this new pain, the rage Colton manifested at the fact that she had just gone limp terrified her in new ways.

"Get up, get up or I'll kill you right here," he threatened with clenched teeth like a rabid dog and a gaze that, even in the dark, she could see glimmering through the night.

"I don't believe you." JJ coughed out and curled her body into a fetal position in an attempt to protect herself from an inevitable attack.

He dropped his bag and threw his hands up in the air. He stepped away like he was about to just leave her there for dead, but he turned back towards her and knelt down while huffing his musty breath in her face.

"Is someone coming for you? Did you get a tip to run?" JJ said with a bite to her words, trying to reach for any straws she could find. She couldn't quite see his expression, so that she couldn't gauge the severity of his anger. So she laid into it. "Did Beckham say something? Tell you to get rid of the evidence?"

"You wish." He moved his arms under her armpits and picked her up like a kid, effortlessly, before swinging her over his shoulder. Her ribs ached and howled at the rough impact. It instantly resulted in a pathetic groan that JJ wished she could take back. He ignored her obvious pain and grabbed his bag again before beginning down the dirt in a long stride, each bounce a new wave of despair threatening to take her consciousness.

"If you are going to kill me, just tell me. I at least deserve that." JJ said through rugged and pained breaths, but she knew the only time she got information was when she prodded him like a cow grazing grass.

"If you keep talking, I'll kill you right here."

Another empty threat. The desperation worsened.

"If you wanted to kill me right now, I think you would have done it by now. No, you are running away, which means someone is close. I don't know how, I don't know when, and I don't know what Beckham has to do with it- but you are running because you are scared. But you also can't let me go; your whole life has been leading to this moment. If someone takes it from you, it will destroy you."

"Shut up!" He screamed.

At the same time, JJ began screaming, not sure if anyone could hear her bellows.

"HELP! Someone help me!"

He dropped her to the ground again, and JJ wondered if her body would ever get used to that brutal occurrence. He straddled her hips. Sticks and rocks dug into her bare legs, and the cold air tore through her body in the form of goosebumps and quick breaths. For the first time, she noticed the blood staining the jeans covering his knee. With a quick glance down, she saw the blood seeping through the shirt. She didn't think her falls in the woods had been that severe, but the blood said otherwise, and a sudden wave of nausea overcame her shaking limbs. She looked back at his face, and for the countless time he wrapped his hands around her neck. In a sick and twisted way, it didn't scare her- didn't worry her, she expected it, and maybe she could also taste the sweet release death would bring.

The brink was near.

But he didn't squeeze hard enough to take her breath; he only met her eyes.

"They are not even close to finding you, and they will never find you. I know they are at my house, but you will be long gone by the time they find this place. Now I suggest you keep your damn mouth closed. We're almost there."

So she did.

"Baby girl, he's not here, and it looks like he hasn't been here in days." Morgan paused and ran his hand that wasn't holding the phone over his head. "Is there anywhere else he could be?"

"Ugh, I have checked and checked, and triple checked. No one in that family owns any other property." Garcia sounded dejected, the tiny sliver of hope wiped out by an emotional tsunami.

"We suspected he could have used someone to help him, but that goes against his narcissistic personality. It's not impossible, though- he must have her with that accomplice or somewhere he could be alone without interruption...unless he already killed her."

"Hey. We do not think like that." Garcia instantly reprimanded. "Until we have a bod-" She paused and started over, not even wanting to entertain that idea. "Unless we find evidence otherwise, we will not stop looking for JJ."

"You're right. I'm sorry. She's out there; I know she is. I can feel it." Morgan responded with a deep breath and a small crack to his voice that he hoped Garcia didn't notice. "Okay, scrap everything. We need to comb through his life for anyone that would have a similar vendetta against JJ. This person would likely be from Pennsylvania too."

"I'm listening; keep going. I am also pulling up all abandoned buildings within a 25-mile radius from his house." Garcia encouraged with a slight smirk on her face that only she could see; the hope slowly crept back.

"I need you to pull up everyone that Alderman is still in contact with from Pennsylvania."

"Got it."

"Now narrow it down to people within three years of JJ and Alderman's age, respectively, that went to the same high school."

"Okay, still a lot of names. What else?"

"How many males?"

"13."

"Damn it. How many of them own property in Virginia?"

Garcia gasped. "You smart, smart-"

"What'd you find?" Morgan cut her off anxiously.

"Beckham Whitehead. Same age as JJ and owns a cabin 10 miles from your current location."

"Send me the address."

"Already sent."

A/N: another chapter so quick? I know wow, I might deserve some reviews for that ;)